Heat wave blasts daily heat records across Maritimes

Sunday could set more records for high temperatures

A surfer heads into the water at Lawrencetown Beach on Nova Scotia's Eastern Shore on Thursday, July 8, 2010. (Andrew Vaughan/CP)

The heat wave melting the Maritimes this weekend has smashed previous daytime maximum temperatures across Nova Scotia, New Brunswick and P.E.I.

Daytime maximum temperature records

Location

New July 6 record set Saturday

Previous July 6 record

Halifax Stanfield International

31.1

30.6

Sydney, N.S. airport

31.9

29.9

Summerside, P.E.I.

32

29.4

Saint John Airport

30

29.4

Saturday’s daytime maximum temperature recorded by Environment Canada at Halifax Stanfield international airport was 31.1 degrees, beating the previous July 6 record of 30.6.

A new record measured at Sydney airport of 31.9 degrees was two degrees higher than the previous high temperature for July 6.

The daily high temperature for Summerside, P.E.I. Saturday of 32 degrees smashed the previous July 6 record of 29.4.

Saint John also recorded a record daily maximum temperature Saturday at 30 degrees, beating the old record of 29.4.

Saturday’s heat marked two temperature record setting days in a row.

On Friday, three spots in New Brunswick had the highest ever recorded July 6 temperatures. Two P.E.I. weather stations recorded record-breaking daily maximums Friday as well.

On Friday in Nova Scotia, two centres recorded record-breaking daily maximums, including Halifax, which recorded a high that day of 31.4 degrees, beating the previous record of 29.6.

Ian Hubbard, an Environment Canada meteorologist based out of the Atlantic Storm Prediction Centre in Dartmouth, said it’s possible that Sunday could be another heat record-breaking day.

"That’s not something that I can really answer. We have forecasted highs of 32 degrees today for parts of mainland Nova Scotia and some of those would be records if they get that far," he said.

But Hubbard said the heat is not that unusual.

"We tend to get in situations where you get a couple of days of heat like this and they tend to persist for one or two days it usually happens a couple of times throughout the summer. So it’s nothing that we don't deal with on a yearly basis," he said.

Quebec wildfires prompt Maritime air quality advisory

Environment Canada has issued a special air quality statement for P.E.I. and parts of northern New Brunswick because of smoke from forest fires in the northwestern area of Quebec.

The smoke is blowing toward the Maritimes from fires next to James Bay and Hudson Bay, after more than 300,000 hectares of forest burned.

"Basically we’re concerned about smoke from any forest fires in Quebec that are pushing down and could potentially reach those regions later on today or tonight and with that we sometimes see an increased level of particulate matter. People are able to smell it and report it as a smokey smell to the air and sometimes the smoke also causes reductions in visibility," said Hubbard.

"We have sensors that measure different chemicals and one of them will measure particulate matter and that’s just something to keep an eye on for later today."